Sheryl Crow plays it safe at Pacific

Huntington Beach girls Madison, Jessica and DJ, from left, enjoy the scene at the Sheryl Crow concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Miranda and Ashley, from left, came over from Coto de Caza for Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Chiryze, left, of Irvine, and Kimberly, from Newport Beach, arrive at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for Sheryl Crow's concert on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Mother and daughter Kelli and Heydt, from left, came over from Laguna Hills to see Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Alverna High School alumni from Sierra Madre arrive at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for Sheryl Crow's concert on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Orange County Sheryl Crow fans Craig, Karyn, Kristina, and Kathy, from left, enjoy the scene at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa before Wednesday's concert. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Friends from San Pedro celebrate the 50th birthday of Roni Iacono, center, at Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow performs at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow performs at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow performs at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow and her band perform at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow performs at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow and her bandmates perform at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow performs at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow and her band perform at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow performs at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Honeyhoney opened for Sheryl Crow at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on Wednesday. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow fans arrive at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for Wednesday's concert. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Former Orange County resident Amber, from left, brought her current South Bay neighbors Maria and Nohemi to their first-ever Pacific Amphitheatre concert on Wednesday to see Sheryl Crow. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Wendy Kerr and Kathy Gillespie, from left, came over from Newport Beach to see Sheryl Crow in concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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The Mulders, from San Clemente, were really excited about seeing Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Work friends from A Market in Newport Beach have fun together before Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow fans whoop it up at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for Wednesday's concert. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Jay and Ann of Minnesota, from left, and Judy, Deb, and Dianne of Huntington Beach have fun at Sheryl Crow's Pacific Amphitheatre concert Wednesday in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Miranda and Ashley, from left, have fun together at Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Members of the band the Combs arrive at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for Wednesday's concert. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Rick, Amanda, Janel and Keith, of Corona Del Mar, get together for a picture at Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Originally from Huntington Beach, now from Bellflower, Mark and Deanna enjoy the fun of being at Sheryl Crow's concert Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow fans arrive at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for Wednesday's concert. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Sheryl Crow fans arrive at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for Wednesday's concert. ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Sheryl Crow’s ultimately satisfying performance Wednesday night in Costa Mesa should have been the crowning gem of Pacific Amphitheatre’s short season, a standout amid predictable repeat visits from all manner of nostalgia peddlers and plenty of kid bait.

Maybe that was an unfair expectation, for Crow has never been anything more than solidly predictable herself since she emerged nearly two decades ago with the sleeper smash Tuesday Night Music Club. Yet unlike all but a few younger acts on Pacific’s roster, the 50-year-old rocker is still a relevant figure in contemporary music – more than she has been in the past decade, actually, thanks to recent forays into richer musical heritage and a successful crossover into the country market.

That’s why it was so disappointing to see Crow cruise through a hits parade with little regard for either the rest of her first-rate catalog or what direction she might take next during her first O.C. show in years and her only Southern California appearance this summer.

Of course, the fact that she stuck almost exclusively to radio fare that built her reputation is probably reason enough for Wednesday’s near-capacity crowd to consider this among the best shows of Pacific’s five-week run. Give the people what they want, indeed, and Crow obliged: Out of 15 songs in roughly 90 minutes, only three tunes were less than familiar to even casual admirers – four if you count her Cars contribution “Real Gone.”

That tally of deep cuts included an adequate reading of the political-made-personal piece “Members Only” (from her self-titled 1996 disc) and a soothing rendition of “Home” (from her best album, 1998’s The Globe Sessions), along with a new CCR-driven groove that didn’t seem fully ready for public consumption.

The rest of the set largely reflected her chart history, from her breakthrough single “All I Wanna Do” to her cover of Cat Stevens’ “The First Cut Is the Deepest” (replete with a meandering story about meeting its author) and on through a rousing finish, with a hearty handling of “If It Makes You Happy” and the playful “Soak Up the Sun” leading to an overwrought encore of “Everyday Is a Winding Road.” The audience, on their feet virtually the entire time, sang along to every word.

So what’s to gripe about, right? Only that Crow is capable of much more, thematically and energetically.

The first point is almost forgivable: She shouldn’t be faulted for playing it smart (or should that be safe?) before a fair-going crowd that might not have appreciated a set of dusted-off obscurities. Still, it showed a lack of faith in both her material and her fans’ patience that she completely dismissed her last three albums, two of which (2008’s robust Detours and 2010’s soul-drenched 100 Miles from Memphis) are among her finest and all of which nearly topped the charts – so it isn’t as though no one ever heard them.

Worse, however, is that Crow initially seemed to lack the enthusiasm to properly pull off this gig. Maybe a day at Disneyland with her two toddlers (among the many topics that lead to dead-end asides this night) left her wiped out. Regardless, at first she seemed to be phoning in her performance, meagerly executing staple songs with all the excitement of a lounge lizard crooning “Feelings” for the thousandth time.

It didn’t help that the show’s sound engineer had things all out of whack; her vocals were so far out in front of her sterling five-man band that for the first half of the set that crew might as well have been playing inside the Hangar over at the fair. The gap began to narrow with thicker rock jams like “A Change Would Do You Good” and “Real Gone,” both punctuated by superb fretwork from Peter Stroud and Audley Freed (once of the Black Crowes), who traded solos with the harmonious skill of Don Felder and Joe Walsh back in the Eagles’ heyday.

Yet Crow’s voice continued to overwhelm everything – unfortunately so for “Everyday Is a Winding Road.” By that point it was painfully obvious that her lung power was failing, her biggest notes routinely cracking.

No question she had fun up there: Despite obligatory sauntering to the sides of the stage early on (it felt like she was hitting marks), Crow, clad in tight black leather pants and an equally clingy top that made her look like a middle-age Leather Tuscadero, eventually began to loosen up, smile more, toss in some vamped oomph on key phrases. Why it took so long to warm up to 8,000 eagerly cheering fans, then, is baffling. She clearly knew how to turn on those booster jets for a similar set at Stagecoach in April.

And not going the extra mile by bulking up her set with bonuses that could have lent greater heft to her performance is simply a letdown, even if doing so would have required losing a pretty terrific opening turn from rustic but ripping Americana group honeyhoney. Sheryl Crow is better than this – or, at least, she can be.

Setlist: Sheryl Crow at Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, July 25, 2012Main set: Steve McQueen / All I Wanna Do / Leaving Las Vegas / Members Only / My Favorite Mistake / A Change Would Do You Good / The First Cut Is the Deepest (Cat Stevens cover) / Real Gone / Can’t Cry Anymore / (New song: “It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times”) / Strong Enough / Home / If It Makes You Happy / Soak Up the SunEncore: Everyday Is a Winding Road

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